News and Events from FTPL

Events at the Library

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Acapella Concert with The Sheps! - Wednesday, Feb 10 2010 7:00p

Bring your valentine, or just pop on in by yourself for a sweet night of harmony!
The Sheps are without a doubt one of the most popular Acapella groups in the N.Y.- N.J. circuit today. All five members have 'paid their dues' so to speak, resulting in one of the most unique blends of harmony today. They are all committed to singing many songs that other groups won't even touch.
It is for the fact that they do these obscure songs so well, that it is no wonder that a fan club was formed immediately after their very first performance! Upon receiving awards and plaques over the years, this has not changed the way the guys  feel about 'really keeping the music alive!'
Also these fellows have one of the highest reputations for being back-up forces for such greats as Pookie Hudson, leader of the Spaniels, Pirkle Lee Moses, leader of the Eldorados, Otis Williams leader of the legendary Charms, Ray Wooten, leader of the Mellow Moods, Johnny Bragg, leader of the Prisonaires, Ray Pollard, leader of the Wanderers, the incredible Ruth McFadden, Bobby Mansfield, leader of the Wrens, Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows,  along with an impressive list of many more. With all this going for them, they still find the time to create their original songs in which they are constantly turning out.
This five part vocal group consists of original members, Tommie Shider and Richie Camacho, along with Charles Coleman and Johnnie Barlow. All residing in New Jersey. Tommy Lockhart, the fifth member lives in New York.

Movie: A Serious Man - Friday, Feb 12 2010 2:00p

Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel & Ethan Coen bring us this black comedy about an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry's unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job.

While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person -- a mensch -- a serious man?   Registration is required, sign up today!

Second Saturday Book Discussion Group - Saturday, Feb 13 2010 1:30p

Join us for a discussion of Sidney Poitier's autobiography, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography.

In his second memoir Poitier talks about his childhood in the Caribbean, where he was terribly poor by American standards, but quite happy, swimming and climbing all he could. One of eight kids, Poitier was sent to live with an older brother in Miami when he started to get into difficulties as a teen. But frustrated by his inability to earn a living and by the disparaging way whites treated him, Poitier left Miami for New York. There he worked as a dishwasher, started a drama class and launched a celebrated acting career that led to starring roles in such classics as To Sir, with Love and Raisin in the Sun.

Copies will be available at the Reference Desk beginning January 9.

Tuesday Night Out Book Club - Tuesday, Feb 16 2010 7:00p

Join us for a discussion of The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar.

Umrigar's schematic novel illustrates the intimacy, and the irreconcilable class divide, between two women in contemporary Bombay. Bhima, a 65-year-old slum dweller, has worked for Sera Dubash, a younger upper-middle-class Parsi woman, for years: cooking, cleaning and tending Sera after the beatings she endures from her abusive husband, Feroz. Sera, in turn, nurses Bhima back to health from typhoid fever and sends her granddaughter Maya to college. But Sera's affection for her servant wars with ingrained prejudice against lower castes. The younger generation—Maya; Sera's daughter, Dinaz, and son-in-law, Viraf—are also caged by the same strictures despite efforts to throw them off.

Copies will be available at the Reference Desk beginning January 19.

Author Visit: Sapphire - Thursday, Feb 18 2010 7:00p

The Franklin Township Public Library is proud to host author and poet Sapphire as she discusses "When Push Comes to Precious: The Novel, the Film, The Reality." The film adaption of Sapphire's novel, Push, recently won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Awards in the U.S. dramatic competition at Sundance (2009). Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire is the only film ever to win both the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals Audience Awards. It is a vibrant, honest, and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome.
Push was named by The Village Voice as one of the top twenty-five books of 1996 and by TIMEOUT New York as one of the top ten books of 1996. Push was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction. Sapphire's work has been translated into thirteen languages and has been adapted for stage in the United States and Europe.
This ticketed event will take place in the Sampson G. Smith School Auditorium. A limited number of free tickets will be available at the Reference Desk beginning January 19th, and must be presented at the door on the evening of the event. Tickets cannot be reserved in advance, and will be limited to two per individual at pick-up. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THERE ARE NO TICKETS REMAINING FOR THIS EVENT.
Copies of Push will be available for purchase at the event for $10, cash only.

Teens: Gaming @ the Library - Saturday, Feb 20 2010 2:00p

Bring a friend along and try your hands at various games for the Wii.

Snacks will be provided! For grades 7-12.

Sing & Sign with Junior Jam! - Sunday, Feb 21 2010 2:00p

Children ages 1 to 5 years and their parents will learn basic sign language using music and songs with ASCAP Award winning songwriter (and Somerset resident) Jeff Eisenberg and his singing partner, Elayne Kessler.  Jeff and Elayne are fluent in sign language and are certified Kindersigns instructors.  This class will meet for four weeks, but parents and children are welcome to join at any time, and need only register once.   Registration begins February 1 online.  If you need assistance with online registration, please contact the Children's Reference Desk.

Calling All First & Next Time Homebuyers! - Wednesday, Feb 24 2010 7:00p

Are you intimidated by the real estate market and confused by the changing stimulus plan tax credits? Register today for this free information session, and discover the basics of the home buying process and the what types of financial assistance are currently available for first, second, and even third time home buyers.

The History of Jewelry From Antiquity to Modern Times - Thursday, Feb 25 2010 7:00p

Join us for a fascinating journey through history indicating the different styles and trends in adornment that evolved through different periods and how the events of those periods affected those trends. Peter Stavrianidis, of Venus Jewelers, is a GIA Graduate Gemologist, AGS Certified Gemologist Appraiser, and a professional public speaker, educating the community about jewelry and diamonds. This is a free program, but registration is required; sign up begins January 25th.

Tales From an African Drum with Yvonne Ceaser - Saturday, Feb 27 2010 3:00p

Celebrate African heritage with stories told in the oral tradition by librarian and storyteller Yvonne Ceaser.  Recommended for Grades K -6 with a family.

Author Visit: Shobhan Bantwal - Wednesday, Mar 3 2010 7:00p

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing 'Bollywood in a Book;' romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of Indian culture -- stories that entertain and educate. Her writing career is a 'menopausal epiphany,' because she took up creative writing at the age of 50. She loves writing stories about her native India and Hindu culture. Shobhan has three published novels (The Dowry Bride, The Forbidden Daughter, and The Sari Shop Widow), with a fourth slated for 2010. She is also a contributing author to romantic anthologies and freelances for a number of publications. Author talk followed by booksigning. Registration is required; sign up today!

Second Saturday Book Club - Saturday, Mar 13 2010 1:30p

Join us for a discussion of The Bell by Iris Murdoch.

Outside of Imber Abbey, the home of an enclosed order of nuns, lies Michael Meade's ancestral home, Imber Court. Michael's homosexuality has in the past complicated his desire to become an ordained priest, and he has decided to make Imber Court a lay community of the Abbey. To the court comes a small group of more and less 'pure' people, 'whose desire for God makes them unsatisfactory citizens of an ordinary life, but whose strength or temperament fails them to surrender the world completely.' Added to them are the visitors: Toby Gashe, a handsome and earnest young man, soon to attend Oxford; Nick Fawley, with whom Michael had a disastrous affair several years previously; Paul Greenfield, an egotistical art historian; and Paul's rather bohemian wife Dora, who 'had begun to suspect that Paul thought her the tiniest bit vulgar.' Iris Murdoch combines rarefied philosophy, intellectual introspection, and a terrifically dry humor as she takes us into the minds of troubled people seeking a good and satisfying life in the midst of their religion, their culture, and the natural tendencies of their own personalities. The force and tension of repressed contemplation grows until it is released by a series of stunning events.

Copies will be available at the Reference Desk beginning February 13.